More than 40 per cent of parking fines are scrapped on appeal by councils across Britain, new figures show

Over-zealous parking wardens could be incorrectly issuing millions of tickets each year, with more four out of 10 appeals being upheld.

Data uncovered by The Sun reveals that drivers who challenged local authorities won in 44 per cent of cases.

The newspaper revealed the figure following Freedom of Information requests to more than 100 councils.

These showed that 385,341 of 875,776 appeals were won.

But with four million tickets issued in 2015-16, and some councils refusing to reveal the number of appeals upheld, it reports that the real number could be far higher.

In a scathing response to the figures, the AA said: 'Councils have long seen parking enforcement as a cash cow, instead of a way to deter selfish drivers from parking where they shouldn’t.'

The highest number of wrongly-issued tickets were by Huntingdonshire District Council, where 81.54 per cent of appeals were won.

Other councils where people successfully appealed tickets included Waverley Borough Council, 79.06 per cent, City of Lincoln, 78.43 per cent, West Oxfordshire, 75.43 per cent, and Wirral, where 69.57 per cent were won.